The country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Collin Beck joined with Government Ministers, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Prime Minister to sign the relations with Palauan Ambassador to United Nations.

The ceremony was witnessed by Deputy Prime Minister Fred Fono and Minister for Foreign Affairs, William Haomae.

Palau was represented by its President, Johnson Toribiong.

Palau has become 52nd state our country has entered into formal relations with.

In a statement Mr. Beck said Solomon Islands will continue to reach out to international community and will continue to formalise relations with other members of the United Nations family.

SUVA, Fiji (Fiji Times, September 30, 2009) -- More than 250 men applied for jobs as stevedores with the Fiji Ports Corporation.

General Manager Port Operations Eminoni Kurusiga said a large number of the 96 shortlisted for interviews were either former tourism workers or University of the South Pacific graduates.

He said the 96 shortlisted were too many for the 14 posts currently vacant in the corporation.

Yesterday, a team headed by Mr. Kurusiga interviewed the remaining 40 applicants.

"Some of the people who came for interview were USP students," he said. "There was one guy who had a BSc in environmental science. Then there are those who lost their jobs from the tourism industry. While some of them were looking for permanent posts others were looking for casual work."

Kurusiga said stevedores were casual posts and those chosen would be called when needed.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands (Solomon Star, September 30, 2009) – Earth Island Institute says dolphin dealer Chris Porter is misleading the public when he said tuna investment and dolphin trading are two separate issues.

The Institute’s director Mark Berman and his regional associate Lawrence Makili said their organisation is the recognised dolphin safe tuna certifier worldwide for 95 percent of the world’s canned tuna markets.

"Porter's allegations that tuna companies torture dolphins when catching tuna is without any basis with regards to tuna companies that are audited by Earth Island Institute," they said in a statement.

The statement said 95 percent of the world’s markets that are dolphin safe adhere to the Dolphin Safe Policy of Earth Island, which states that no dolphins can be chased, encircled, netted, harmed or killed in tuna fishing operations.

SUVA, Fiji (Fiji Times, September 30, 2009) - Imports of fruits and vegetables are a necessary evil for Fiji’s tourism industry even though the country's balance of payments needs to improve, head of the Fiji Islands Hotels Association Dixon Seeto said.

Seeto said hotels had tried their best to use local fresh produce on their menus but had not been entirely successful in their efforts.

"The association keenly believes in helping the local industry but there are some things that are just not grown in Fiji. Things like pears, apples and some vegetables which are used on a daily basis are not local produce," he said.

Seeto said local producers would need to diversify their products if they wanted the hotel industry to use more local input.

"There are some products which can be grown locally and tests have proven that they can be grown in Fiji but producers are not moving away from traditional...

HONOLULU (Pacific Islands Report, Oct. 1, 2009) – A tropical storm now heading directly towards the Northern Marianas is forecast to grow into a category 2 typhoon by the time it reaches the commonwealth in two days.

According to weather website Tropical Storm Risk, Tropical Storm Melor is due to become a category 1 typhoon within 12 hours before growing in strength to a category 2 packing winds of up to 110 miles per hour by Saturday. Thereafter, the forecast shows the storm growing to a category 3 typhoon with winds of up to 130 miles per hour as it moves westward beyond Guam and the Marianas.

Current predictions indicate the typhoon will brush close to Guam on its westward course.

The approaching storm comes on the heels of a lesser weather system, Tropical Storm Eighteen, which left Guam unscathed. The government today was preparing for another assault.

By Haidee V. Eugenio SAIPAN, CNMI (Saipan Tribune, Oct. 1, 2009) – After more than a year of controversy over ownership and alleged trespassing on public lands, the new owner of Rota Resort & Country Club yesterday not only signed a formal lease deal with the Department of Public Lands but also announced an initial $1 million worth of water bottling facility and a $10 million casino project.

Hee Kyun Cho, owner of Rota Resort & Country Club, said he has invested close to $10 million to take over ownership of the biggest hotel on Rota.

Cho said the bottling water facility may open as early as February or March 2010, employing 10 new individuals on Rota and will also export bottled water to Japan, Korea, and other destinations.

The initial investment for the facility is $1 million but if successful, the investment may grow to $10 million to $15 million, employing over 100 people, he added.

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (The National, September 30, 2009) – Eight people were killed and several others, including women and children, injured in a bloody confrontation between an armed gang and villagers during a school fete in Eastern Highlands province last weekend.

A gang member was beheaded and his head was hung on a power post at the village in Kainantu district last Friday.

The gruesome killing and display of the gang member’s head in public was in retaliation for the killing of four people on a school ground during the school fete.

Police said as villagers and school children gathered last Friday at the Tirokave Primary School for the fete, the armed gang raided the school and attacked them.

Guests invited for the fete, parents and school children ran for cover as the gang struck.

Four villagers were killed in the attack, while a number of people, including mothers and...

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (PNG Post-Courier, September 30, 2009) – The National Government through the National Disaster Centre has responded positively to the food shortage problems on the Trobriand Islands.

Kiriwina Goodenough MP Jack Cameron has released K10, 000 [US$3, 800] for food supplies and the national Government has released nearly half a million kina [US$191,000] for relief supplies and purchaseof yam and food crops seedlings for the affected communities identified by the Losuia district office.

On the ground, the Kiriwina LLG officers comprising of the LLG area manager, RDO, police and health officers have been deployed to do a rapid assessment of the communities reported to have experienced food shortage.

They also observed what was sold and bought at the local markets.

The officers will also conduct awareness on the drought predicted for 2012 and urge the people to prepare by way...

S. 1023, which would create a non-profit organization that would promote overseas travel to the United States, does not include the territories in the defined mission of this Corporation, which is "to ensure that international travel benefits all States and the District of Columbia."

The letter was signed by Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Congresswoman Donna M. Christensen of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Congressman Eni Faleomavaega of American Samao, Congressman Pedro Pierluisi of Puerto Rico, and Congressman Kilili Sablan of the CNMI.

The bill would allow Congress to charge visitors to the U.S. a $10 entry fee.

Pacific Islands Report is a nonprofit news publication of the Pacific Islands Development Program at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. Offered as a free service to readers, PIR provides an edited digest of news, commentary and analysis from across the Pacific Islands region, Monday - Friday.